With her “lovely demeanor and irresistible creamy timbre”, soprano Danielle Pastin is in demand nationwide and abroad. Her wide-ranging repertoire encompasses the classical as well as the contemporary and she is equally at home in opera and concert.
Recent seasons have found Ms. Pastin at the Metropolitan, Dallas, Pittsburgh, Santa Fe, Austin, Nashville, Palm Beach, Arizona, Central City and Manitoba Operas in such roles as Puccini’s Mimi, Liu and Butterfly, Mozart’s Donna Anna, Donna Elvira, Fiordiligi and the Countess, Verdi’s Desdemona and Violetta, Micaela in Carmen, Nedda in Pagliacci and Masha in The Queen of Spades.
Internationally she has reprised many of these roles with the Savonlinna Festival in Finland, the Macau-Beijing Festival in China, and at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Additionally, she has created roles in new works including Robert Patterson’s Three Way, Free Will, Henry Mollicone’s Gabriel’s Daughter, and has been featured in Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath.
On the concert platform Ms. Pastin has been the soloist for Verdi’s Requiem, Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Tchaikovsky’s Romeo & Juliet, Bruckner’s Te Deum and the Mozart Requiem with the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Pittsburgh Concert Society, the Reno Chamber Orchestra, the Glacier Symphony, the Society of the Four Arts, the Erie Philharmonic and DCINY in Barcelona.
A prolific prize-winner, Ms. Pastin has received First Prize from the Sullivan Foundation and from the Opera Index Vocal Competition, Second Prize from the Gerda Lissner Competition, the Judith Raskin Memorial Award (Santa Fe Opera) and the Fine Arts Fellowship (Central City Opera). She is an alumna of the University of Maryland.
Praised for her sensitive, alluring voice and dedicated artistry, Soprano Megan Cumming captivates her audiences both on and off the stage, with a demonstrated passion to share her music with those in need.
Megan begins the 2022-2023 season as a winner of the 2022 Pittsburgh Concert Society Major Artist Division, and she recently performed as Laurie (The Tender Land) and Diane (Orphée aux enfers) as an Emerging Artist with Opera in the Ozarks. In the summer of 2022, Megan was honored to be selected as a Leslie Fleischner Young Artist with Pittsburgh Festival Opera, where she performed scenes as Gilda (Rigoletto), Marie (La Fille du Régiment), and Juliette (Roméo et Juliette).
In January of 2021, while covering Mrs. Fiorentino in Weill’s Street Scene (Opera McGill), Megan was thrilled to go on at the last minute for performances at Le Monument-National Theater in Montreal, QC. Other notable performance credits include the First Spirit in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (Opera McGill), Margot in Dauvergene’s Les Troquers (Opera McGill), and Laurey in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! (The Hanover Theater). Recently heard as Cendrillon in Viardot’s Cendrillon (Carnegie Mellon Opera), Laetitia in Menotti’s The Old Maid & the Thief, and the fairy godmother in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella (Opera McGill), Megan was grateful to share these comedic performances with audiences isolated and recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic.
A graduate of the Schulich School of Music at McGill University, Megan earned her Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance with Distinction and Outstanding Achievement in Voice, and was also placed on the Dean’s Honor List and awarded the Dixie Ross Neill Scholarship. A member of Pittsburgh-founded Musicians with a Mission, Megan is a frequent performer in local nursing homes and healthcare facilities. A Massachusetts native, Megan currently resides in Pittsburgh, PA, where she recently graduated with her Master of Music Degree at The Carnegie Mellon University College of Fine Arts. She has studied privately with Maria Spacagna, Joanne Kolomyjec, and Jane Shivick.
Marianne Cornetti is internationally recognized as one of the leading Verdi mezzo- sopranos of her generation. She has appeared as Amneris/Aida, Azucena/Il Trovatore, Lady Macbeth/Macbeth, and Princess Eboli/Don Carlos at prestigious opera houses across the world. Acclaimed performances of iconic leading Verdi roles include engagements as Azucena/Il Trovatore at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Metropolitan Opera, Arena di Verona, Bregenz Festival, Teatro Comunale in Florence, National Theatre of China in Beijing, Choregies D’Orange, and several more highly esteemed venues.
This season, she performs as Ježibaba/Rusalka and Azucena/Il Trovatore with Pittsburgh Opera, and covers Croissy/Dialogues de Carmélites at the Metropolitan Opera. Highlights of Cornetti’s recent engagements include her singing La Cieca/Gioconda with the Choregies d’Orange, her debut as Princess Eboli/Don Carlos in Tokyo, as well as acclaimed performances in Parma, Bilbao, Rome, Vienna, and London; Un ballo in maschera at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden; her debut as Dame Quickly/Falstaff at the Palacio de la Ópera in La Coruña, Spain, followed by a reprisal of the role at the San Diego Opera; Fidès/Le prophete at the Aalto-Musiktheater Essen; Ježibaba/Rusalka and The Witch/Hansel and Gretel at the Minnesota Opera; Lady Macbeth/Macbeth, Laura/La Gioconda, and Ulrica/Un ballo in maschera with the Deutsche Oper Berlin; Preziosilla/La Forza del Destino at Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, La Monnaie in Brussels, and at Carnegie Hall in New York City; as the title role in La Gioconda at the Rome Opera and Romanian National Opera; and Abigaille/Nabucco at the New National Theatre Foundation in Tokyo.
John Pickle, tenor, enjoys an active career on both the opera and concert stage. Operatically, he has appeared with Los Angeles Opera, Lyric Opera Chicago, Opera Colorado, Michigan Opera Theater, Florida Grand Opera, Nashville Opera, Lyric Opera Kansas City, New York City Opera, Hawai’i Opera Theater, Florentine Opera, Sarasota Opera, Cleveland Opera Theater, Dayton Opera, Opera Memphis, Opera Tampa, Maryland Opera, Mobile Opera, Opera Southwest, Opera Louisianne, and Opera Delaware in roles spanning the lyric spinto repertoire of Puccini, Verdi, Bizet, Leoncavallo, Mascagni, and Wagner. Concert work has included Mahler’s monumental 8th Symphony and Das Lied von der Erde, Verdi’s Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with companies including Houston Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Dayton Philharmonic, Mississippi Symphony, Akron Symphony, Canton Symphony, The National Chorale, and The Orchestra Now at Bard College.
Tenor, Colin Aikins, a native of Lower Burrell Pa., is pursuing his master’s degree in vocal performance at the Juilliard School. Colin received his bachelor’s of music at the Curtis Institute of Music. Most recently, he made his role debut as Alfredo from Verdi’s La Traviata with City Lyric Opera. He has sung in numerous productions at the Curtis Opera Theatre. Roles such as The Beadle from Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, Mr. Upfold from Albert Herring, Chavalier de Danceny from Dangerous Liaisons, Nate from Highway 1, U.S.A, and the Trio in Trouble in Tahiti. He was a young artist with Pittsburgh Festival Opera in the summers of 2020 and 2021.
Romanian-born baritone Sebastian Catana has built in recent years an outstanding name in the opera world, mainly as an interpreter of Verdi baritone roles, making him one of the most sought-after baritones of his generation. Catana was a member of the training programs at Seattle Opera and Baltimore Opera and made his operatic debut in 2001 as Thoré in Meyebeer’s Les Huguenots at Carnegie Hall with the Opera Orchestra of New York. In 2003, he sang Schaunard in La Bohème under Daniel Oren for his debut at the Metropolitan Opera where he also sang his first Valentin in Faust during the 2006/07 season among many other supporting roles. In the 2007/08 season he made his European debut as Paolo in Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna.
Career highlights include the title role of Nabucco at Rome Opera, Arena di Verona, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Philadelphia Opera, Teatro Colon Buenos Aires, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Israeli Opera, Oper Stuttgart and Palm Beach Opera, Baron Scarpia in Tosca at the Opéra National de Paris, Rome Opera, Teatro La Fenice, Teatro Massimo Palermo (later on tour of Japan with Angela Gheorghiu), Teatro Petruzzelli Bari, Israeli Opera, Savonlinna Festival and Leipzig Oper, Il Conte di Luna for Il Trovatore in Valencia under Zubin Mehta and at Israeli Opera, Francesco Foscari in I due Foscari at Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Teatro Verdi Trieste and Teatro Municipal Santiago, Amonasro in Aida at the Arena di Verona, Diomede in Lauro Rossi’s Cleopatra at Macerata Sferisterio Festival (released on DVD by Dynamic/Naxos), Miller in Luisa Miller at Opéra de Lyon and Teatro Regio di Torino, title role of Macbeth in concert with the Münich Radio Symphony Orchestra under Friedrich Haider and at Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Ezio in Attila at the Parma Verdi Festival (released on DVD by C Major/Unitel Classica), the title role of Rigoletto at the Royal Danish Opera, Rome Opera under Daniele Gatti, Teatro Municipal de Santiago, Teatro Verdi Trieste, Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf, Northern Ireland Opera and the Berkshire Opera Festival, Germont in La Traviata at Rome Opera, Teatro Massimo Palermo, Pittsburgh Opera, Opéra de Lausanne, Israeli Opera and at the Savonlinna Festival, Barnaba in La Gioconda at Teatro Municipale di Piacenza, Giovanni in Marco Tutino’s La Ciociara at Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Seid in Il Corsaro and Don Carlo in Ernani at Dortmund’s Klangvokal Music Festival, title role of Falstaff at the Berkshire Opera Festival and Ford in Falstaff at Opéra de Lausanne. Other recent and upcoming engagements include Alfio/Tonio in a new production of Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci, title role of Nabucco and Amonasro in Aida at the Arena di Verona, Baron Scarpia in Tosca at the Royal Danish Opera of Copenhagen, title role of Rigoletto at Opéra Royal de Wallonie – Liège and the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre, Tonio in Pagliacci at Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova, title role of Falstaff with the Tokyo Philharmonic under Myung-Whun Chung, Michele in Il Tabarro at Rome Opera and Iago in Otello at Israeli Opera.
Sebastian Catana has been awarded prizes and awards in vocal competitions such as the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, First Prize in the 2006 Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation Voice Competition, Second Prize in the 2007 Giulio Gari Foundation International Voice Competition, Second Prize in the 2006 Loren L. Zachary Society National Vocal Competition, First Prize in the 2003 Opera Index Competition, First Prize in the 2004 New Jersey State Opera International Voice Competition, Second Prize in the 2001 Jensen Foundation Competition for Opera Singers, First Prize in the 2000 Connecticut Opera Competition, Sixth Prize in the 2000 Palm Beach Opera Competition, grants from the Lee Schaenen Foundation and the Liederkranz Foundation, and was selected as one of the 10 finalists in the 2004 International Italian Opera Competition organized by Sächsische Staatsoper Semperoper in Dresden, Germany. He holds an Artist Diploma degree in Voice Performance from Duquesne University and graduate degrees in Chemical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and University of Michigan.
Noted by Opera News for his “dark bass and strong dramatic energy,” Brian Kontes continues to perform throughout this country and abroad. For the 2022-2023 season, Mr. Kontes was contracted at the Metropolitan Opera in New York with assignments on Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and Die Zauberflöte. In March, he was a featured soloist with the Valdosta Symphony for their performance of Braham’s Requiem. Recently, he returned to Pittsburgh Opera where he sang the role of The Commendatore in Don Giovanni. Additionally, he made his debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony for their concert of Bruckner’s Te Deum. Brian Kontes also made an important debut with Washington Concert Opera as the Spectre in Hamlet. He then returned to the Metropolitan Opera for their production of Manon Lescaut. This fall, Mr. Kontes will begin his season with a return to Pittsburgh Opera, where he will sing the role of Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia.
In recent years, Mr. Kontes received high praises for his singing and acting by audiences and reviewers alike. Those seasons included his debut at Central City Opera as Lt. Ratcliffe in Billy Budd and The Bonze in Madama Butterfly, Sarastro in Die Zauberflote at Sarasota Opera, The Bonze in Madama Butterfly at Pittsburgh Opera, and M. Javilenot in Dialogues des Carmelites at the Metropolitan Opera.
Career highlights at the Metropolitan Opera have included HD productions of Die Meistersinger Von Nurnberg under the baton of Maestro James Levine, Der Rosenkavalier under the baton of Maestro Sebastian Wiegle, and The Nose, led by Maestro Valery Gergiev.
Other notable career highlights in opera include the roles of Timur in Turandot at San Diego Opera, Hogboy in Brokeback Mountain at New York City Opera, Bartolo in Le Nozze di Figaro at Pittsburgh Opera, Leporello in Don Giovanni at Seattle Opera, Banquo in Macbeth at Opera National de Lorraine, Palemon in Thais at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and Kentucky Opera, The Commendatore in Don Giovanni at New York City Opera, Colline in La Boheme with Opera Hong Kong, Happy in La Fanciulla del West at Opera Omaha, Dr. Grenvil in La Traviata at Opera Colorado, Zuniga in Carmen at New Orleans Opera, The Bonze in Madame Butterfly for Nashville Opera and Don Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Sprecher in Die Zauberflote with Ash Lawn Opera. He has also sung many operas in concert with the Opera Orchestra of New York.
Brian Kontes is also a noteworthy concert artist. He has sung on numerous occasions at Carnegie Hall in New York City as well as venues throughout the United States.
Mark Trawka joined Pittsburgh Opera as Director of Musical Studies for the prestigious Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist Training Program in the 2003-04 season. In the 2006-07 season, he also took on the position of Chorus Master.
Mr. Trawka coaches and performs with the Resident Artists and has also accompanied renowned mezzo-soprano Marianne Cornetti in her Pittsburgh recital appearances. He has been a member of the music staff at Houston Grand Opera, Dallas Opera and Portland Opera (Oregon), where he was principal pianist and assistant chorus master. Mr. Trawka has served as coach/accompanist at Chautauqua Opera and at Glimmerglass Opera for many summer seasons. In the summer of 2006, he was director of the resident artist program at Berkshire Opera.
Educated at the Eastman School of Music and the University of Southern California, Mr. Trawka began his operatic career in the Houston Opera Studio and in San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program.